I've never owned a tivo but am considering it can do one important thing for me - copy programming from HBO to my PC. I have Verizon FiOS and able to go into the diagnostic menu to check and see what channels are protected and HBO is one of them. What I want to know if this is a sure sign that it will also be copy protected if I'm using a cablecard?

Thanks, but just to clarify, nothing is changed when a cablecard is used? I've read on here from at least one member that they can copy everything with FiOS but maybe it's just a difference in location where nothing is protected.

Thanks, but just to clarify, nothing is changed when a cablecard is used? I've read on here from at least one member that they can copy everything with FiOS but maybe it's just a difference in location where nothing is protected.

Nothing changes with cable cards. Although I must say this is the first FIOS installation I've seen where everything can't be copied.

Nothing changes with cable cards. Although I must say this is the first FIOS installation I've seen where everything can't be copied.

Ah, too bad. Guess I got to look for another solution...

But yea, it's kind of disappointing knowing there are people out there with FiOS who get everything. It's really random with my service what is and what isn't. For instance, everything Showtime channel is unlocked except Showtime East. ESPN & ESPN 2 are locked but ESPNEWS is not.

I've never owned a tivo but am considering it can do one important thing for me - copy programming from HBO to my PC. I have Verizon FiOS and able to go into the diagnostic menu to check and see what channels are protected and HBO is one of them. What I want to know if this is a sure sign that it will also be copy protected if I'm using a cablecard?

With FiOS here, anything I record on my TiVos from FiOS, I can transfer to my PC. The exception are the two or three test channels they have. But any Premium or other channel has no issue with me transferring to another TiVo or my TiVo Desktop PC.

Are you in one of the Frontier FiOS areas? Those are different than the Verizon FiOS locations which is what I have. Frontier FiOS areas do have copy restrictions. But if you are on a Verizon FiOS system then maybe that is a view of things to come with the rest of the Verizon FiOS footprint.

With FiOS here, anything I record on my TiVos from FiOS, I can transfer to my PC. The exception are the two or three test channels they have. But any Premium or other channel has no issue with me transferring to another TiVo or my TiVo Desktop PC.

Are you in one of the Frontier FiOS areas? Those are different than the Verizon FiOS locations which is what I have. Frontier FiOS areas do have copy restrictions. But if you are on a Verizon FiOS system then maybe that is a view of things to come with the rest of the Verizon FiOS footprint.

I'm in a Verizon FiOS area and it's been the exact same way for at least 3 years in terms of what is protected and what is not so it's probably not reflective of anything coming.

Quote:

Why is copying HBO content important?
What is your goal?

Because everything else that I'd want from other channels is not protected and there's definitely a lot of HBO content that I want, particularly the stuff that might not ever make it's way to blu-ray and quality is very important to me.

Pardon my ignorance; I have Verizon Fios but I don't use their equipment. Exactly what is shown on the screen where it says it's protected? That may or may not be referring to the cci-byte value. Does it show a value that looks like this: 0x00, 0x01, or 0x02?

This would be the first I've heard of a Verizon location being unable to transfer HBO. Here in PA, HBO shows up as 0x00, which is free to copy.

Pardon my ignorance; I have Verizon Fios but I don't use their equipment. Exactly what is shown on the screen where it says it's protected? That may or may not be referring to the cci-byte value. Does it show a value that looks like this: 0x00, 0x01, or 0x02?

This would be the first I've heard of a Verizon location being unable to transfer HBO. Here in PA, HBO shows up as 0x00, which is free to copy.

For anyone that might find this interesting, I contacted someone who lives less than 10 miles away who owns a TiVo and confirmed HBO was unlocked. I'm going to have to do a little more investigated as hopefully this area isn't part of a different system so to speak where there could be differences.

So I got a TiVo today, got everything working and to my surprise everything is unlocked. So apparently something does happen that removes the protection when the mcard is used with the TiVo, at least with FiOS.

The only thing that concerns me is that I noticed there are actually recording options such as "best quality" and so on. Is "best quality" untouched or does it undergo some encoding? Anyone know?

So I got a TiVo today, got everything working and to my surprise everything is unlocked. So apparently something does happen that removes the protection when the mcard is used with the TiVo, at least with FiOS.

The only thing that concerns me is that I noticed there are actually recording options such as "best quality" and so on. Is "best quality" untouched or does it undergo some encoding? Anyone know?

I think you are misreading the situation. The channel being protected simply means that it is encrypted and you need a CableCARD to authorize access and decrypt it. Most if not all cable systems encrypt premium channels. Copy protection is a separate issue. CableCARD devices are required to honor copy protection. It's just that FIOS chooses not to copy protect any of the material.

I think you are misreading the situation. The channel being protected simply means that it is encrypted and you need a CableCARD to authorize access and decrypt it. Most if not all cable systems encrypt premium channels. Copy protection is a separate issue. CableCARD devices are required to honor copy protection. It's just that FIOS chooses not to copy protect any of the material.

The thing is as I mentioned, Verizon does honor copy protection with certain channels when using the Motorola box. However, these same channels turned from cci 0x02 to 0x00 when I used the cablecard and that's what I was getting at. Or am I still misunderstanding something?

The thing is as I mentioned, Verizon does honor copy protection with certain channels when using the Motorola box. However, these same channels turned from cci 0x02 to 0x00 when I used the cablecard and that's what I was getting at. Or am I still misunderstanding something?

This is a problem with the Motorola box. I assure you that if the CC1 byte were set in what gets transmitted to the TiVo, it would be honored. Just ask any TiVo owner on TWC.